triple point

The intersection of at least two atmospheric surface boundaries (e.g. warm fronts, cold fronts, drylines, and/or occluded fronts) delineating three distinct air masses, typically located at or near a surface pressure minimum.

See also triple state.

Wakimoto, R. M., H. V. Murphey, E. V. Browell, and S. Ismail, 2006: The “triple point” on 24 May 2002 during IHOP. Part I: Airborne Doppler and LASE analyses of the frontal boundaries and convection initiation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 231–250, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR3066.1.

Weckwerth, T. M., H. V. Murphey, C. Flamant, J. Goldstein, and C. R. Pettet, 2008: An observational study of convection initiation on 12 June 2002 during IHOP_2002. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 2283–2304, https://doi.org/10.1175/2007MWR2128.1.

Schumacher, R. S., 2015: Resolution dependence of initiation and upscale growth of deep convection in convection-allowing forecasts of the 31 May–1 June 2013 supercell and MCS. Mon. Wea. Rev., 143, 4331–4354, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-15-0179.1.

Term edited on 27 May 2026.